Differential Z + jet cross section measurements at 8 TeV

The measurement of differential cross section of a Z boson produced in association with jets is presented. The cross section is presented with respect to various jet kinematic variables where the Z bosons are reconstructed from opposite sign lepton pairs. The analysis is based on data of proton proton collisions with the centre of mass energy of 8 TeV collected in 2012 by the CMS experiment at LHC corresponding to 19.8 /fb of integrated luminosity. Obtained results are compared with different generators and are shown to be consistent with the Standard Model predictions.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the proceedings of ICHEP2014: 37th International Conference on High Energy Physics, 2-9 July 2014, Valencia, Spai

V+jets production at the CMS

Measurements of Vector Boson production in association with jets are presented, using p-p collision data at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV. The measurements presented include Z + jets azimuthal correlations, event shapes, vector boson + jets differential cross section measurements, hard double-parton scattering using W + jets events and electroweak Z + forward - backward jet production.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figure

The Effects Of Fiscal And Monetary Discipline On Budgetary Outcomes

This paper extends the game-theoretic model of Von Hagen and Harden (1995) that analyzes the impact of fiscal discipline on budgetary outcomes.It analyzes the effects on budgetary outcomes of both fiscal and monetary discipline, which are evaluated with respect to the relevant institutional rules. The model predicts that while both inflation and budget deficits are negatively associated with fiscal discipline, they may be positively associated with monetary discipline, proxied by central bank independence. This result obtains due to optimizing agents who internalize the burden of spending: inflation. Although not conclusive due to data limitations, the empirical findings of the paper support these predictions.Budget Deficits; Central Bank Independence; Fiscal Discipline; Inflation

Fiscal Decentralisation and Deficits: International Evidence

The literature on socio economic implications of fiscal decentralization (FD) has recently been expanding, though only very few studies to day have looked at its macroeconomic effects. This paper investigates the relationship between FD and budget deficits. Using various measures of both expenditure and revenue decentralization in a large panel data set, we show that FD is significantly and negatively related to budget deficits. Moreover, among the many possible factors that may reinforce this relationship, country size is the most relevant one. The paper also presents significant evidence that, the larger the country size, both good governance and local accountability accentuates the relationship between FD and budget deficits.Fiscal Decentralization, Budget Deficits

Modeling Institutional Evolution

This paper proposes an original formal framework to analyze institutional evolution. Institutions have formal (F) and informal (N) aspects that may evolve at different paces, although eventually converging towards each other through an dynamic interactive process. N evolves with capital accumulation, as in learning by doing, and F is optimally chosen by the government who maximizes output given the social and political costs of changing F. As transaction-cost-reducing mechanisms, F and N together define the production technology and affect the income level. As consistent with the evidence, calibrations of the model reveal that optimum F exhibits a punctuated equilibra.Institutional evolution, punctuated equilibria, growth

Measuring the Quality of Bank Regulation and Supervision, with an Application to Transition Economies

This study develops a method to evaluate the quality of a legal framework for bank regulation and supervision (RS) by developing an extensive set of criteria and a coding system. Using this method, we generate an original set of measurements for RS by evaluating the letter of banking laws of 23 transition economies. In doing so, we also utilize the Basle guidelines on banking supervision and the related literature. The indices of RS indicate that legal banking reforms in Poland, Hungary and Estonia have been more ambitious than the rest of the countries in transition. In general, however, banking laws in transition economies indicate a lower regulatory and supervisory quality than indicated by the German banking law, if one is willing to choose the latter as a benchmark. This data set permits an empirical analysis of the relationship between legal RS and macroeconomic performance. The empirical evidence in the paper shows a significant positive relationship between RS and real GDP growth in transition economies.Bank regulation and supervision, growth, transition economies

Fiscal Decentralization, Redistribution and Growth

This paper analyzes the welfare implications of a transfer mechanism in a fiscally decentralized economy where local governments select their tax collection effort to maximize their lifetime utility. We consider a transfer rule that both punishes for the lack of efficiency in tax-collection and compensates for the deviation of pre-tax or transfer income from a target level; in addition, a portion of transfers is considered to be directed towards investment. Simulations of the model’s optimal solution reveal that increasing punishment always results in increased steady state effort, despite the disincentives that increasing income compensation or directed investment may generate. Increasing punishment also improves capital accumulation the lower the rate of directed investments and the lower the tax rate. Further, efficiency in tax collection is achieved the lower the rate of directed investment and the higher the punishment rate.Fiscal decentralization, redistribution